The Cubs much appreciate the Padres for giving them the infielder they needed. And, no, we’re not talking about Anthony Rizzo.

The Rizzo-for-Andrew Cashner trade is working out fairly well for both teams, but the Cubbies didn’t have to give up anybody or much of anything for Cody Ransom, who was designated for assignment by the Padres upon Chase Headley’s return from the DL in mid-April. Picked up four days later by the Cubs – his eighth team over 10 years in the majors -- Ransom’s been like found money in Chicago.

“He’s got an OPS around .800,’’ Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of Ransom, whose combined on-base and slugging percentages for June are a preposterous 1.322. “He’s done a great job defensively. He’s done everything and more than we expected when we picked him up.’’

Then again, how high could the Cubs’ expectations have been? A 37-year-old journeyman with a career .222 average and a total of 28 homers, Ransom didn’t so much as reach base once in his 11 plate appearances with the Padres. Naturally, Ransom has hit seven home runs in less than 70 at bats with the Cubs -- three in his first five games, two of those during the Padres’ visit to Wrigley Field.

“I know I’m lucky to still be playing and that every day could be my last one,” said Ransom. “You could get hurt tomorrow and that could be it. I want to play as hard as I can, play as well as I can.’’

Ransom’s making one decision easier for the Cubs. They could’ve gone with $2 mill-a-year veteran Ian Stewart, who’s become a pain in the franchise’s fanny, earning a team-invoked suspension for Twitter-bombing his displeasure at being kept down in Triple-A as a backup.

As usual, Ransom also knows he’s probably just playing until the arrival of the next “next best thing.” With the Cubs, that’s highly regarded prospect Junior Lake, who might already be up from Triple-A if Ransom would ever cool off.

Ransom and his lefty-hitting platoon partner, Luis Valbuena, are second only to David Wright and the New York Mets in the NL in OPS at third base.

Extra cheese?

If only because they’re not an AL East team, it’s astonishing that the Oakland Athletics are one of only two teams ever to record three walk-off RBI off Mariano Rivera, perhaps even more astonishing that the other club is the New York Mets. The latest was a broken-bat single by A’s rookie Nate Freiman in the 18th inning at Oakland.

The game was Rivera’s last regular-season visit to Oakland, and in keeping with his desire to celebrate his own retirement by doing nice things for employees and fans of the teams he’s been shutting down since 1995, he personally brought a pizza to A’s office-services coordinator Julie Vasconcellos.

"I think we almost killed her,” said Rivera. “I walked in and said, 'I'm your new delivery man.' She loved it. That's one of the most fun ones I've done.”

Rotating rotation

The fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates have been as many as 12 games over .500 is striking, though certainly fuel for more skepticism that the Bucs are setting themselves up for another late-season collapse and their 21st straight losing year.

But give the Pirates props for doing what they’ve already done while losing starting pitchers left and right. Left-hander Jeff Locke is the only member of the Opening Day rotation still on Pittsburghs active roster.

A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez and James McDonald are all DL’d. Jonathan Sanchez was released in April, replaced by Jeanmar Gomez, who’s also now on nthe disabled list. Francisco Liriano opened the year on the DL – due to a broken arm – but he went 5-2 with a 2.36 ERA in his first seven starts back.

Bad doggie! Bad! Bad!

A package of marijuana was alleged to have been mailed to Indians closer Chris Perez, presently on the DL, leading to misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree drug abuse against the pitcher and wife Melanie.

Reportedly, though, the package was actually addressed to Brody. He’s the Perez’ dog.

Deja brouhaha

The night the Dodgers and Diamondbacks went at it, a total of nine ejections were handed out across major league baseball. As dug up by the Sports Features Group, the record number of uniformed personnel tossed in the course of one day’s full schedule remains 18.

P.S. Just wondering how the Dodgers are going to be able to keep track of all the opponents they need to "get back" at.

Number:200. Hot dogs bought by Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon for his players during a five-hour rain delay at Progressive Field, where the Cleveland Indians happened to be offering two ballpark dogs for a dollar. No limit, apparently.